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Evgeni Malkin vs. Patrick Kane: Inside the Numbers
Pittsburgh Penguins' Evgeni Malkin vs. Patrick Kane has been a heated debate on social media this offseason.
This portion of the NHL off-season drags by every year. The majority of the higher profile free agents have signed their deals and are preparing for the upcoming year. This is a perfect time for random social media-driven debates. Ironically, one of the better free agents still remaining has become the subject of one of those debates in Patrick Kane.
An Instagram page called “All Hockey Culture” posted a graphic this past weekend asking who’s had a better career: Kane or Pittsburgh Penguins’ center Evgeni Malkin. Malkin scrolled upon this post and replied simply by saying “88” referring to Kane’s number.
Now, for Malkin to say that about his counterpart in Kane would theoretically settle the debate but that doesn’t mean we can’t take a dive into the numbers and attempt to make that determination ourselves.
As it stands now, both players have won three Stanley Cups in their illustrious Hall-of-Fame careers. Kane scored his championships in 2010, 2013, and 2015. Malkin’s came in 2009, 2016, and 2017. Malkin won the Conn Smythe in 2009 with a dominant performance. Kane reigned supreme as the playoff MVP in 2013.
Both men can also stake claim to winning the Calder Trophy in their respective rookie seasons. As far as league MVP's are concerned, each of 71 and 88 have won the Hart Trophy.
With a dead even tie in terms of award trophies, their legacies certainly aren't going to be in question.
Considering Malkin and Kane have spent the majority of their careers in separate conferences, there has never been a playoff series between the two teams. However, we've got 17 regular season games of head-to-head statistics.
Across those 17 games, Kane actually has Geno beat pretty marginally. Kane's record of 12-2-3 against Malkin's Penguins when both are playing takes the cake. Malkin only has 13 points in those 17 games while Kane racked up 23 in the same time span. Both have 52 shots on goal. Kane's six goals double Malkin's output of three.
Kane is the clear winner of the head-to-head category. These numbers would mean a lot more had there been a playoff series or two mixed in but it is a fun metric to look at nonetheless.
All of this so far goes without even diving into their respective career stats.
Kane has played in 1,180 games in his career amassing 1,237 points across that time span. This equates to 1.05 points per game. Malkin's 1,229 points across 1,063 NHL games gives him a 1.16 points per game.
Malkin's average is better and he's played one more season. Kane has operated under a cleaner bill of health than Malkin as he's been fortunate enough to log 117 more games than Geno.
Both guys have been featured players on their teams' power plays. Malkin holds the edge with 173 power play goals to Kane's 124.
Where the argument really can be won on either side comes based on what part of the players' careers you find the most important. I am going to define both guys' "primes" as their age-24 to age-30 seasons.
For Kane, that stretch came from 2012-13' through 2018-19'. In that time period, the now 34-year old winger played 504 games scoring 230 goals and 569 points. Kane's teams won two of their Cups in this time frame. His two career 100-point seasons occurred in this time frame.
In Malkin's case, 2010-11' through 2016-17' would represent his prime. Injuries over this time limited Malkin to just 397 games however he scored 451 points during that time. Pittsburgh collected Stanley Cup wins in the final two seasons of those prime years of Malkin.
Kane's points per game in his "prime" comes out to 1.13. For Malkin, he sits at 1.14. Theoretically, they averaged nearly the exact same points per game. In Malkin's case, he just played 108-less games in that stretch.
Kane's averaging such a high production over his prime years in more games may sway you. However, their early years and later career numbers may entice your line of thinking towards Geno.
In terms of early impact, we can look at the first three seasons of each guys career and find that Malkin posted 304 points across his first 242 hockey games. Kane amassed 230 points across his first 244 games. The early numbers lean towards Malkin.
With Malkin being two years older, the comparative sample sizes of their "non-prime" seasons won't provide enough context. With Malkin playing on a team that continued to make the playoffs while Chicago went into tank mode, their situations also don't allow for true comparison.
Kane's career has been synonymous with the Chicago Blackhawks until the past trade deadline where he forced his way out to the New York Rangers. Kane has 12 points in 19 games for the Rangers in the regular season before adding six more across seven playoff games. He currently is a free agent.
Malkin signed a four-year deal with the Penguins just hours before hitting the open market in 2022. Disagreement between Malkin and former General Manager Ron Hextall almost saw the lifetime Penguin playing in a different uniform over the final few seasons of his career.
Kane's linemates may have been a tad better over the years simply because he played on the top line for Chicago. Malkin slotted in as the teams' second line center so he wasn't on the Penguins' top offensive line.
Both guys are elite NHL players and still provide plenty of offensive acumen to this day. Despite the debate being about who is better, neither's overall career arc and accomplishments should be diminished by the others.
Now that the context is laid out for you, who do you believe is the better player between Malkin and Kane?
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Mike Sullivan Makes Statement on Patrice Bergeron's Retirement
Sidney Crosby Congratulates Patrice Bergeron Following Retirement Announcement
Penguins Must Start Strong in 2023
Sharks Undervaluing Erik Karlsson Trade to Penguins
Penguins Breakout Candidates for 2023-24
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Mike Sullivan Makes Statement on Patrice Bergeron's Retirement
Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan coached Patrice Bergeron early in his legendary career.
Patrice Bergeron, a long-time staple of the Boston Bruins franchise, called it a career on Tuesday afternoon. Bergeron played 19 seasons for the Bruins and posted 1,040 points across 1,294 games in his career.
Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan had the pleasure of coaching the sure-fire Hall-of-Fame center early in his coaching career. He had very nice things to say about Bergeron upon his retirement Tuesday.
On October 18th, 2003, Bergeron scored his first career NHL goal and Sullivan was behind the bench for the milestone. Sullivan would be the bench boss that season and then again two years later following the lockout during the 2004-05’ season. Sullivan was relieved of his head coaching duties following that season.
Upon Sullivan’s hiring as the Penguins’ coach in December of 2015, Bergeron made sure to go out of his way to praise Sullivan when he found out the news.
It is clear the two individuals have a great respect for one another. Bergeron’s career may never have happened as it did if it wasn’t for Sullivan. Bergeron’s Hall-of-Fame resume will certainly go down in the record books as one of the best two-way careers of all-time.
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Penguins Must Start Strong in 2023
Sharks Undervaluing Erik Karlsson Trade to Penguins
Penguins Breakout Candidates for 2023-24
The Penguins Are One of the Most Improved Teams in NHL
Drew O'Connor Is Pivotal for the Penguins
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Flavell’s Five Thoughts: Penguins After First Day of Free Agency
A look at the state of the Pittsburgh Penguins after the official opening of free agency.
With Kyle Dubas now at the helm of hockey operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins, changes were sure to be abound. While there were many additions and subtractions, one thing stayed the same: the starting goaltender.
The Penguins’ postseason streak was snapped following a below-standard season in Pittsburgh. The previous regime was fired and now Dubas and his team run the show.
With the signings/trades of the past few days and the retention of other players who seemed destined to play elsewhere next season, I’ve got some thoughts on the state of the team as it stands following day one of free agency.
The Jarry-sized Elephant in the Room
Oh boy. This one has not been received well across the fan base and for good reason. Tristan Jarry has always been a pretty average goalie. He’ll give you some elite stretches of play and he’ll give you totally abysmal stretches. He’ll also be unavailable to you for the most important times of the season.
Unfortunately for Dubas, the 28-year-old goaltender had all the leverage and he used every bit of it. Jarry got the long-term deal he wanted to sign with the Penguins when it seemed nearly impossible that he’d get more than a one or two-year deal.
Jarry’s new five-year deal will pay him $5.375 million annually. Typing that out still feels like an error.
Regardless, the Penguins will trudge on with Jarry and newly-signed goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic as their tandem. One would assume Casey DeSmith is now a lame duck.
Jarry’s going to have to ensure that he’s healthy for the stretch run and the playoffs going forward. His .891 career playoff save percentage doesn’t scream “top-10 goaltender” money but Jarry now ranks near that category.
The market collapsed fairly quickly with goalies flying off the board. With each name that dropped, Jarry’s return felt more and more inevitable. However, his return on a one-year prove-it deal seemed like a more prudent option.
‘Old’ Penguins Didn’t Get Much Younger
I’m not completely against the moves the Penguins made this past week. They found players that arguably make the team deeper and a tad better. That was ultimately the goal as the 2023-24 season approaches.
However, many assumed the Penguins would go young with their bottom-six additions. That isn’t quite the case.
Reilly Smith is a helluva get for Dubas. A third-round pick that was acquired for Teddy Blueger? Automatic upgrade. Smith is coming off winning the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights but he’s also on the wrong side of 30.
Lars Eller is 34-years-old. Matt Nieto is 30. Noel Acciari? He’s 31.
Ryan Graves, 28, and Nedeljkovic, 27, represent the only free agents signed under 30-years old for Pittsburgh.
Look, they’re all solid additions and the Penguins needed toughness in the bottom-six. They’ve certainly achieved that. But with Jeff Carter and Mikael Granlund also penciled into the bottom-six, there are a handful of 30+ year olds prepared to handle a large chunk of playing time in that role for Pittsburgh this upcoming season.
Signing Guentzel Must Be Next Priority
You could argue there are a few purposes for this.
Pittsburgh, as it stands, has a shade over $70 million committed for 2024-25. That is a whole season away but the significance there is that Jake Guentzel is eligible for a contract extension. The cap is projected to sit at $87 million next season.
Currently, Guentzel is the only player of substance that needs an extension. That’s great news for a Penguins team that will need a large sum of money to regain Guentzel’s services.
Guentzel is the preferred left winger for Sidney Crosby. Keeping Guentzel around would likely influence Crosby’s decision when his contract extension talks can begin next July 1st. The Penguins should jump on this.
However, Guentzel’s name has come up in trade chatter. The talk seems to be more fan-based than anything just as a way to potentially strengthen the goalie position. That is no longer going to be necessary with Jarry’s extension.
However, if the Penguins do trade Guentzel, having him signed to a long-term deal would attract more buyers and a better return with his contract status already dealt with. This situation seems like the unlikeliest outcome.
If the Penguins want to make Guentzel a part of their organization for years to come, they’d be wise to get him under contract now and their focus next offseason can solely be on improving the roster as a whole instead of dealing with an important extension.
Could the Penguins still acquire Erik Karlsson?
As things stand, the Penguins are essentially out of cap space. They’d have to get creative to make any more additions but there are some contracts that could be sent out.
Jeff Petry’s $6.25 million along with Granlund’s $5 million are two contracts the Penguins reportedly wouldn’t be against moving. Obviously, other pieces would have to be attached.
Could you imagine being able to land the reigning Norris Trophy winner? Well the Penguins reportedly are a finalist to do so.
As it stands now the Penguins top-six will be some combination of Petry, Graves, Kris Letang, Marcus Pettersson, Jan Rutta, P.O. Joseph, and Chad Ruhwedel. Ousting someone from that group and adding Karlsson would change the dynamic of the blue line group.
The acquisition would be more of a luxury than a necessity but it would certainly improve the overall outlook. Imagine having Letang and Karlsson on the same blue line. Haters might say “yeah it would’ve been cool five years ago”. But the duo would still form one of the best defensive duo’s in the league today.
Penguins’ Top-Six Still Scary on Paper
Jason Zucker signing with the Arizona Coyotes kind of stinks. However, with Zucker signing a one-year deal, how far apart were the Penguins and Zucker that they couldn’t figure something out? It doesn’t matter now.
Zucker is gone and Smith is his de facto replacement. The Penguins are still going to roll a nice top-six out next season.
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Reilly Smith - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Maybe it’s not the most prolific top-six in the league but it certainly won’t be taken lightly by opponents. Crosby and Malkin are still elite until proven otherwise. Guentzel is a consistent 30-goal scorer. Rust underperformed and still potted 20-goals last season.
Rakell has proven to play well with either one of Crosby or Malkin. Smith is the new guy but plays a game that should seamlessly translate with Malkin.
Dubas has revamped the Penguins pretty quickly. It will be interesting to see if the revamp is for the better or for worse as the Pens begin preseason play in September.
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Penguins Defenseman Brian Dumoulin Signs Deal with Kraken
Penguins Sign Lars Eller to Two-Year Contract
Penguins Sign Noel Acciari to Three-Year Contract
Penguins Sign Ryan Graves to Six-Year Deal
Penguins Sign Tristan Jarry to Five-Year Contract
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Mike Sullivan Is Penguins’ Biggest Winner in Dubas Hiring
The Pittsburgh Penguins got their guy and it should bring positive change to head coach Mike Sullivan.
There were many things that were frustrating about Mike Sullivan’s coaching tactics with the Pittsburgh Penguins last year. The swapping of Rickard Rakell between Sidney Crosby’s line and Evgeni Malkin’s. Giving Jeff Carter every waking chance to keep his lineup spot. Even his goaltending decisions were questioned from time to time.
Looking back on it, Sullivan’s hands were tied. Whether you choose to believe any of The Athletic’s reporting on the mess that was last season is on you but one clear message came across to me after reading that: Sullivan did not enjoy working for the bosses that he had.
Brian Burke is the antithesis of what the Penguins are supposed to be. With Burke wanting to play a heavy-hitting game, Sullivan sees the Penguins as a team primed to play a speed and skill game. Hextall, an antiquated hockey dinosaur himself, didn’t do much to give Sullivan the type of players he would’ve preferred.
Fenway Sports Group’s (FSG) hiring of Kyle Dubas is a fun gamble the Penguins were willing to take. Dubas’ Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t have much playoff success but their rosters were always loaded with talent and played well in the regular season.
Of course, no one cares if that doesn’t amount to anything. Just ask the Boston Bruins about that.
However, Dubas’ roster construction has the potential to rejuvenate Sullivan and make him look like one of the league’s premier coaches again. As long as he’s got the core three, he will be fine. But the help around him is what’s important.
The Penguins had next to nothing in the bottom six in regards to their scoring production. That’s almost assuredly going to change with Dubas at the helm.
This team isn’t one or two moves away. They’re in need of a lot of help but they’ve got a core of players and approximately $20 million in cap space to alleviate the pressure on the core and supplement them with actual bottom-six talent. Not overpaid players like Mikael Granlund and Kasperi Kapanen.
Sullivan is held in high regard by FSG and Dubas gave him a ringing endorsement at his introductory press conference on Thursday by saying Sullivan “could coach forever.” I’d like to think he and Dubas will see each others’ visions a lot better than Sullivan and his former bosses did.
Sullivan will be rejuvenated and may come out of this situation as the biggest winner of them all.
Make sure you bookmark Inside the Penguins for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more!
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Penguins Chose Perfect Time To Announce Kyle Dubas
Penguins Hire Kyle Dubas as President of Hockey Operations
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Penguins Must Inquire About Connor Hellebuyck
The Pittsburgh Penguins could use an update between the pipes and Connor Hellebuyck is the best option.
For Tristan Jarry, the writing might be on the wall. He’s going to have a new general manager that knows he’s been either unavailable or unreliable in the blue paint for the Pittsburgh Penguins when it matters most. He’s got the potential and has proven to be a good goaltender. The problem is that those moments have been few and far between.
With an aging core of players, the time for the Penguins to make one last run is now. Heck, the window might’ve even closed on that possibility. But, as long as those guys are in Pittsburgh, the Penguins have no choice but to go for it.
A new GM will have their hands full trying to quickly retool a roster that has far too many holes to patch in a quick matter. However, one thing they have to get right is the goaltender.
The unrestricted free agent goalie market doesn’t provide many surefire upgrades over Jarry. The 28-year-old will be one of the youngest UFA netminder on the market which should only drive up the price for goalie-hungry teams. He’s likely aware of that and should test free agency to see what is out there.
That would leave Casey DeSmith as the only NHL goalie on the Penguins’ roster. He’s a good backup when he’s not overplayed and exposed. He comes at a relatively cheap price. His roster spot isn’t guaranteed but he’s in a spot where the Penguins could keep him around.
Much to the benefit of the Penguins, Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has hinted at a trade out of Winnipeg. His steep price would be costly but he’s the best available goaltender on the market. The new GM should spare no expense to bring Hellebuyck to Pittsburgh.
The 29-year old goaltender was named a Vezina finalist this weekend; an award he won in 2019-20. His 2022-23’ stats are worthy of the nomination: 37-25-2 with a 2.49 goals against average and a .920 save percentage.
He made 64 starts for the Jets this past season. Since Marc-Andre Fleury’s departure, the Penguins haven’t had a workhorse goaltender. Both Matt Murray and Jarry have suffered their fair share of injuries. The Penguins need a guy that can play a lot and keep DeSmith limited to 20-25 games a year.
For Hellebuyck’s career, he’s got a 2.66 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. Those numbers will play in the blue paint for a Pittsburgh team thirsting for that kind of elite play.
Hellebuyck is 17-23 in the playoffs but has a 2.58 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. The Jets lack of success and Hellebuyck’s consistent elite play has caused him to ask out of Winnipeg.
As far as his contractual situation goes, Hellebuyck is signed for one more season at $6.16 million AAV. The Penguins, before paying an astronomical price, would likely prefer to get him signed long-term. After a few Vezina nominations, Hellebuyck undoubtedly will want a raise on the current salary.
Hellebuyck’s current AAV ranks sixth among NHL goaltenders. Carey Price, Sergei Bobrovsky, Andrei Vasilevskiy, John Gibson, and Murray are the only goaltenders higher than him. It could be argued that he’s better than at least three of the five guys on the list, Gibson and Vasilevskiy being the only potential exceptions. He’d likely command $9+ million from any team acquiring him.
Heading into this offseason, the Penguins’ only “bad” contracts are Mikael Granlund’s $5 million AAV and Jeff Carter’s $3.2 million AAV. Jeff Petry’s $6.25 million could be lumped in there as well. Pittsburgh has roughly $20 million in cap space heading into the offseason, however. The could swing a trade financially,
The question would be, do they have the trade assets to do it?
It’s no secret that Pittsburgh’s organizational cupboard is bare. They don’t have many prospects that would appeal to other teams. They’ve got pick number 14 in the 2023 NHL Draft this offseason. That almost certainly would be included. A young defenseman like Ty Smith or P.O. Joseph almost certainly would have to go. Other draft picks likely would be involved too.
Would the Penguins even entertain trading winger Jake Guentzel who’s contract also expires following the upcoming season? It may be necessary to land a shark like Hellebuyck.
The Penguins are in no position to wait around to find a future goaltender. They could instantly boost the backend of the core’s career with such a move and also find a guy to stabilize the Penguins’ future in the blue paint. The Penguins should spare no expense to land the 29-year-old star in the Steel City.
The move would have present and future ramifications. Pittsburgh would certainly come out of it a better team than they are without Hellebuyck.
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Penguins Entering Next Phase of GM Search
Penguins Will Need To Search Free Agency For Third-Line Center Options
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Flavell’s Five Thoughts: Penguins’ Season Debrief
The Pittsburgh Penguins' season ended with a dud, but how did they get there and where should they go?
Thursday marked an end to what was an incredibly disappointing season for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Heading into the league’s final week, the Penguins controlled their destiny over their final two teams. All they had to do was defeat the two worst teams in hockey this season. They couldn’t beat either one.
With Columbus and Chicago’s wins over the Penguins, Anaheim weaseled their way into having the best odds to draft Connor Bedard. Funny how one team’s misfortunes can be another teams’ reward.
Pittsburgh's final tally on the season was 40-31-11 which was good for 91 points. Their goaltending betrayed them. Obviously, the Penguins weren’t a very good defensive team. Ryan Poehling is about the only player in the bottom-six who should be guaranteed a spot next season.
And all of this happened while Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin played a full schedule together for the first time in their illustrious Penguins careers and did so at a high level still.
Ron Hextall and Brian Burke are no longer in the front office as the Penguins and Fenway Sports Group moved in a different direction.
There will be plenty of changes this offseason and they begin with the front office moves. There is so much to discuss as things start to heat up for Pittsburgh. Without further ado, let’s discuss.
Penguins Must Get Goaltending Right
It’s often said that hot goaltending can take you further than anything in the playoffs, assuming you can get there. While Tristan Jarry has shown flashes of being the guy, they’ve been way too few and far between. His injury history will have a lot to do with that along with his inconsistent postseason play.
He’s a free agent this season and unless the Penguins want to gamble again, he can’t be given a contract resembling that of a number one goaltender. The Penguins don’t have the cap space for that kind of gamble.
If they had more cap, I’d suggest finding a goalie similar to Jarry’s skill level to be a 1A-1B tandem. They can’t afford that right now.
With limited cap space, the Penguins should let Jarry walk and take a massive swing to address their goaltending. Call Anaheim and try to rescue Whitehall native John Gibson. I’m not sure Nashville would do it, but call about Jusse Saros’ availability anyway. If the incoming General Manager wants to make an immediate splash, do it with the goaltending.
The Penguins can not go into another season with the Jarry-Casey DeSmith tandem. It’s proven to have failed on multiple occasions now. It’s time for a change.
Let Most UFA’s Walk
Most of the big name free agents already re-signed with their teams prior to reaching free agency. It’s a rather weak class with the likes of Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan O’Reilly, and Alex DeBrincat being the top dogs.
That’s good news for the Penguins because they won’t be in on those names. They don’t really need to be. Pittsburgh can’t fill their entire bottom-six with free agents, they just become too expensive this time of year. But there are plenty of options out there for them to consider so maybe the supply-and-demand can work out for the Penguins.
Trades will likely be made to beef up the bottom-six as well.
As far as the Penguins’ free agents are concerned, I don’t foresee the organization being too aggressive in attempting to re-sign many of their own free agents.
Brian Dumoulin, Dmitry Kulikov, and Danton Heinen figure to be as good as gone. Nick Bonino would be an intriguing option just because he didn’t get to play many games upon his return to Pittsburgh. Jarry’s aforementioned case can be seen above. There’s plenty of Josh Archibald’s in free agency as well.
Jason Zucker would be a loss that makes the Penguins a lesser team. There’s no doubt about that. However, he played so well that he may have priced himself out of Pittsburgh and it seems unlikely he’d take any sort of discount to stick with Pittsburgh.
RFA’s like Drew O’Connor, Alex Nylander, Ryan Poehling, and Filip Hallander will likely get deals for an opportunity to compete for a bottom-six spot. Ty Smith will almost definitely be retained as well unless he’s traded.
Outside of that, the Penguins should look much different next season.
Defensive Revamp Again in Store
Year after year, the Penguins have gotten progressively worse on the blue line. This season, it all but imploded right in their collective faces.
Kris Letang had the most trying of seasons. While he wasn’t great on a consistent basis, he did play well enough to show that the uber amounts of talent that he’s possessed throughout his career are still there.
Marcus Pettersson became a huge part of the team after it was reported Hextall tried to trade him prior to the season. For all the mistakes that Hextall made, this somehow would’ve been his biggest one. Thank him for this much at least.
Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta were added to the blue line this past offseason at the expense of Mike Matheson and John Marino. The moves didn’t quite work out how the Penguins intended.
Dumoulin is likely to move on. The rotating door of guys like P.O. Joseph, Chad Ruhwedel, Mark Friedman and Taylor Fedun didn’t serve the Penguins very well either.
As in many other facets of the Penguins’ team, change is very much needed.
Ty Smith either needs to be brought up or traded. It seems likely that he could be on the outs solely because he’ll be a left over from the previous regime. He hasn’t been very good defensively and the Penguins can’t afford many more offensive-minded defensemen with a secondary emphasis on playing their actual position.
The market for defensemen will be one the Penguins certainly will be playing in. There are some names that could provide some upgrade for the Penguins based on the game that Mike Sullivan wants the Penguins to play. It’s all about fit and not just overloading the team with talent.
Embrace the Young Guys
Think back to the Stanley Cup days. What was the common theme? Young guys who had a lot to play for to stick.
Bryan Rust. Jake Guentzel. Scott Wilson. Tom Kuhnhackl. These are just a handful of guys whe parlayed successful Cup runs into a nice NHL career.
For the current Penguins, there are some young options that could get opportunities. Alex Nylander played nine games with the big club this year despite being bounced back and forth like a pinball. Drew O’Connor faded towards the end of the season but deserved a chance to compete for a spot next year. Jonathan Gruden had a short lived stay with the Penguins earlier this season but looked like a potential NHL’er in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Valterri Puustinnen deserves a chance in the NHL.
There are a handful of guys that could potentially impact the Penguins in a positive way. They come relatively cheap as they’re on league minimum deals for the most part and the Pens may benefit from allowing those types of guys to litter the bottom-six.
Credit to Sid and Geno
It’s legitimately crazy to think that the Penguins got a full 82-game slate out of Crosby and Malkin and missed the playoffs. Crosby had 93 points and Malkin posted 83. At ages 35 and 36, respectively, both guys still posted a point per game season.
Hextall’s moves ensured they won’t have a chance at another Cup this season. That is just sad.
It’s not often in sports at all that guys spend entire careers with their teams. For those two, and Letang, to likely accomplish that feat is pretty awesome. They’ve seen four different general managers come through and the closest they got to being blown up was this past offseason when Malkin and Letang were due contracts.
Now, they’ll face their fifth general manager once such a position is named. Here’s hoping that guy or girl decides to keep the band together until the end.
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Upcoming UFA's Hope to Remain Penguins
Sidney Crosby Hope to Only Play With Penguins
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The Core Deserves Better from Penguins
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang can only carry the Pittsburgh Penguins so far.
Tuesday night was supposed to be a joyous occasion for the Pittsburgh Penguins. In an ideal world, they would beat the Chicago Blackhawks, the NHL’s worst team, at PPG Paints Arena. After that, they’d celebrate with the fans for the annual “Shirts of the Players’ Backs” as part of Fan Appreciation Night. They’d enter their final game of the season in control of their own destiny.
Or at least that’s how the perfect script would’ve been written.
Instead, the Penguins suffered what could be seen as the worst loss in the core’s era as their playoff odds took a drastic hit following an embarrassing 5-2 loss against the Blackhawks. The Penguins 16-straight playoff appearances now hang in the balance.
With the Penguins down one in the third period, they finally broke through and scored on the power play with a goal by Evgeni Malkin.
It’s funny, isn’t it?
Just a few games back, it was Malkin who scored the season’s largest goal - at the time - late against the Washington Capitals to all but eliminate them from playoff contention and strengthen the Penguins’ own standing. Tuesday night, it was Malkin trying to play hero and scoring the tying goal hoping to get the team going.
Kris Letang was voted as the Penguins nominee for the Masterton Trophy this past weekend. If you didn’t know, the trophy is given to those who show perseverance, sportsmanship, and a dedication to hockey. Letang not only suffered a second stroke at such a young age but also lost his father.
Here he is, at 35-years-old, playing some of the best hockey of his life despite all of this. If he doesn’t win the award, I don’t know what the voters are thinking.
Last, but certainly never the least, the captain.
Sidney Crosby is also 35-years-old. He just posted his 18th straight point per game season, one season shy of the record Wayne Gretzky set. Sure, he went stretches this season without playing his best hockey but at his age carrying the team for as long as he has, he’s due a little less production from time to time.
There is a very good chance that this past season will be the last time that all three combined play at the highest of levels. Father Time is going to get them soon enough and the regression has to come soon. It’s just the way sports work.
Yet, somehow, the majority of the team and the organization let them down.
Name any player in the top-six and they get a pass. Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust were a bit streakier than they typically are. Both still posted 20+ goals this season. Rickard Rakell has been a top tier winger whether he was on the ice with Malkin or Crosby throughout the year. And words can’t even begin to talk about how important Jason Zucker’s been to the team.
Comparatively, name a player in the Penguins’ bottom-six and they likely gave you a handful of reasons why they shouldn’t be here next season save for maybe Drew O’Connor.
Defensively, outside of Letang of course, the Penguins can’t hang their hat on too much this season either.
Marcus Pettersson had himself one heck of a year. Brian Dumoulin was borderline unplayable for much of the season but got better down the stretch. Jan Rutta and Jeff Petry were brought in over the offseason and became bitter disappointments by the halfway point of the season. The rotating door of sixth defensemen didn’t really provide much in the way of confidence either outside of an early season stretch by P.O. Joseph.
And the goaltending…I’m not sure anyone needs a sermon on that.
Chiefly among all of this, however, is the assembly of the roster which falls squarely on the front office.
Jeff Carter can’t help that his career went down the toilet once he signed his extension. Brock McGinn and Kasperi Kapanen can’t help that they were not good fits for this team. Mikael Granlund can’t help that Ron Hextall liked his game so much that Hextall took on his $5 million cap hit for a second round pick.
These things all fall on the front office.
The coaching? That wasn’t great, either. The power play, which all three of the core are a part of, has fallen limp under the tutelage of Todd Reirden. The stubbornness of Mike Sullivan arguably lost the Penguins a handful of games this season.
The problem even goes far enough up the ladder to the Fenway Sports Group. The owners of the Penguins could hardly be bothered to show up to games this year to see the product they invested in blow up on the ice. I’m not positive they could pick Sidney Crosby out of a lineup. A disengaged ownership group is a recipe for disaster in itself.
Crosby, Malkin, and Letang are all on team-friendly deals to try and give the team a better shot to win. The front office had tons of wiggle room and astonishingly created this disaster.
Now, we wait. Maybe the Montreal Canadiens can beat the Islanders in regulation and the Penguins will have one more chance at making the playoffs.
All they would have to do is beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, the league’s second worst hockey team.
Ah, come one. Who are we kidding here?
It’s a shame that the core are being subjected to this as their storied careers near a potentially dark ending if things don’t change quickly in Pittsburgh.
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Mike Sullivan Should Be in Hot Seat as Penguins Head Coach
Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan shouldn't be safe from criticism following the 2022-23 season.
“What have you done for me lately?”
That seems like a good question to begin with when discussing Mike Sullivan and his recent success with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Sure, upon his arrival, Sullivan steadied the ship in what nearly became the darkest season in the Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin/Kris Letang era. Instead, he guided them to a Stanley Cup championship. Then, just for laughs, he decided to do it again the next season. The Penguins became the first organization in the salary cap era to pull off this feat. Sullivan immediately gained top tier-level coaching status for that.
A down season or two certainly would have been forgiven in the immediate aftermath of those Cup wins. Eventually, it was time to rise back up.
Unfortunately, that is something the Penguins never did.
I’d like to preface all of this by saying that the late moves of Jim Rutherford’s tenure coupled with the moves that current general manager Ron Hextall has made haven’t quite helped the Penguins get back to that level.
That doesn’t mean Sullivan should be absolved of blame. Quite the contrary in fact.
A coach's job is to get the most out of the players he’s got at his disposal. You could argue that Sullivan isn’t doing that at the moment.
In one of Hextall’s few good moves in Pittsburgh, he acquired Rickard Rakell. He’s seen the majority of his success with Crosby and Jake Guentzel on Pittsburgh’s top line. However, Sullivan has continued to force Bryan Rust up to that line.
Rust is playing well as of late with four goals in his last three games. He’s a 20-goal scorer for the fourth straight season. That’s great and all but he just hasn’t looked like a $6 million player doing it and is better suited for middle-six duty.
Pittsburgh seems to be at their best with Rakell on line one and Rust playing with Malkin on line two.
Sullivan’s “Just Play” mantra has seemingly grown tired too. To Hextall’s credit, he tried to add some muscle to the team in the offseason but it hasn’t quite worked out as he’d hoped.
Far too often this season, the star players find themselves having to fend for themselves in scrums because the coach’s message deters them from getting into that style of play. That just can’t happen.
The days of the true enforcer are gone but the players shouldn’t be deterred from stepping in and trying to protect anyone on the team, let alone the stars. It makes those guys targets if you aren;t going to allow your players the leeway to step in from time-to-time.
Many Pittsburgh fans will forever be grateful to Sullivan for his leading the Penguins to Cup wins. But that grace period has long disappeared.
The Penguins have been bounced in four straight first-round series and five straight series total. Extenuating circumstances have played a role in all of that but for all the credit Sullivan got for winning those Cups comes equal criticism when the team struggles.
The shelf life for NHL coaches is very short. Sullivan has far exceeded the average tenure for a head coach. He’s the second most-tenured coach in the NHL behind Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper.
Without being in the locker room, it’s hard to tell if the message has gone stale. But at this point, it just seems like the time has come for Mike Sullivan’s seat to get very warm.
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It's Time for Penguins' Goalies to Step Up
The goaltending of the Pittsburgh Penguins needs to turn it around down in final few games of the season.
With just five games remaining, the Pittsburgh Penguins sit in the second wild card spot with 86 points. They leapfrogged the Florida Panthers and sit one point behind the New York Islanders. One of these three teams will not make the playoffs after a dogfight to the finish. It will certainly be a disappointment for that one unfortunate team.
Many things have gone awry for the Penguins this season but paramount among them has been the play of their goaltending tandem.
Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith haven’t been good this season. There’s no hiding that fact.
Jarry has been out for long stretches of the season. When he has been healthy, he’s been very subpar in a contract year. That won’t help his case. DeSmith hasn’t been great in Jarry’s stead. When he does play, he’s been either very good or very bad with no in between.
Much of the blame can be placed on general manager Ron Hextall for his roster choices. Jarry was virtually unavailable for the playoff series against the New York Rangers last season. DeSmith got hurt in game one and had been mostly average prior to that last season.
Hextall deemed it prudent to keep Jarry around and re-sign DeSmith to a two-year deal at $1.8 million a season. It was a wild move to head into this season with the same exact goaltending duo.
However, here we are. There’s no use grinding on it now.
The Penguins are 4-6-0 in their last ten games. They’ve been as streaky as any other team in the league to this point both on the winning and losing side. A lot of that can be chalked up to goaltending.
However, the Penguins’ goaltenders have performed a bit better over the past week or so.
Jarry has a 2.03 goals against average and a .935 save percentage with a shutout in his last three games. DeSmith has won two of his last three outings, making 33 saves in the win over Washington and 34 saves on Sunday in Pittsburgh.
If there is anything that’s going to get the Penguins into one of the two available playoff spots, it’s going to be the play of their goaltenders.
Hextall has made his fair share of other mind-boggling moves. The Mikael Granlund trade comes to mind. The money allocation to guys like Kasperi Kapanen, Brock McGinn, and Jeff Carter that have hamstrung the Penguins’ bottom-six can’t be absolved. But the lack of goaltending moves after the debacle last season is by far the top offense.
It’s not like Jarry is incapable of playing at a high level. He’s done it before just not for sustained periods of time. DeSmith has been good in spurts too. They’re both capable. But streaky goaltending is the exact opposite of what the Penguins need to make the playoffs. They’ve got to be as good as they’ve been all year to finish the season.
Nevermind that any playoff appearance by the Penguins will see them play either the Boston Bruins or Carolina Hurricanes. They’d be the heaviest of underdogs in the entire playoffs. But extending the playoff appearance streak would be pretty cool.
Obviously winning a series is the obvious hurdle for the Penguins as they’ve lost four straight first-round series and five straight series overall. But that can be worried about upon clinching a playoff spot.
Doing so prior to the final game in Columbus would be the ideal situation. If that happens, it’ll be because the combination of Jarry and DeSmith played well enough to make that happen.
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The Injury Parallels Between Tristan Jarry and a Former Penguins Netminder
The story of an injured goaltender might be one Pittsburgh Penguins fans have heard before.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are in a situation with Tristan Jarry that’s hit a crossroad.
On one hand, Jarry has shown flashes of being one of the league’s top goaltenders. Those instances, though, have been few and far between this year because he’s often unavailable to the Penguins due to injuries.
Last season, Jarry missed the final month of the regular season with a broken foot. He returned in Game 7 of the opening round playoff series against the New York Rangers and allowed four goals in the loss.
This season, Jarry suffered a lower-body injury in the Winter Classic and eventually returned three weeks later. That return was short lived as he went back on the shelf within two games.
He’s played in 14 games since returning and is 5-5-2 with a 3.62 goals against average and an .876 save percentage. It’s no secret that, outside of two or three starts, he’s been largely mediocre.
Thursday evening, it was announced that Jarry would miss the game against the Stars due to a lower-body injury. No timetable was given for his return.
If you’ve heard this story before, stop me.
Matt Murray, a two-time Stanley Cup Champion with the Penguins, dealt with much of the same injury luck in Pittsburgh. He spent lots of time shuffling on and off the injured reserve. It got to a point where you started to feel bad for him.
Murray’s injuries seemed to often be concussions or other muscle-related injuries that would keep him out for extended periods of time. He would return and not be able to really find his footing because he’d soon be on the injured list again.
Jarry seems to be much the same.
He played solid early in the season ranking towards the top of the league in many statistical categories. He’s been in and out of the lineup and been very inconsistent when he’s in.
In his last two or three games, it seems that maybe Jarry was beginning to find himself again. Just as that happens, he’s on the shelf again.
Jarry likely wouldn’t have started Thursday’s game anyway because he started Wednesday in Colorado. But his being deemed not healthy enough to back up and the emergency recall of Dustin Tokarski is worrisome for the prospects of how long he’ll be out.
Pittsburgh was forced to move on from Murray and traded him to Ottawa to end his Penguins tenure. Jarry’s contract is up following this season and their decision on whether or not to cut bait with him too is becoming easier and easier.
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Drew O'Connor, Alex Nylander Perfect Infusion of Youth for Aging Penguins
A pair of the Pittsburgh Penguins youngest players could be the biggest help.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are the league’s oldest team. However, that hasn’t derailed them as they continue to stake claim to a playoff spot as the end of the regular season draws near.
Typically, older teams don’t tend to succeed in the postseason after a long grind through the regular season. That could certainly be the case as the Penguins seem to be on a crash course with either Boston or Carolina in round one.
If they can pull off two massive victories in the upcoming games against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, they could find themselves in an easier matchup, at least in theory.
But despite their age, the Penguins do have two young guns making an impact in Pittsburgh late in the season.
Drew O’Connor and Alex Nylander have taken their chances and parlayed them into what should be permanent roles in the Penguins regular lineup. Injuries to bottom-six guys have given them the opportunity to play but they’re playing their way into regular roles.
O’Connor has spent much of the past two seasons toiling between being a fringe roster player and a lineup regular. The coaching staff asked him to show more snarl and use his speed to his advantage if he really wanted to become a regular part of the Penguins’ bottom-six. He’s doing that to the fullest extent.
O’Connor has five goals and eight points in 32 games this season but hadn’t really become a lineup regular until midway through February when Ryan Poehling went down with an injury.
His stats don’t light up the score sheet but O’Connor has been forechecking like a menace, skates very hard and does all the little things you want someone who plays around 10-12 minutes a night to do.
Since O’Connor entered the lineup, the Penguins are 8-5-1. While I’m not pinning the winning record on his arrival, he’s shown to be a more productive piece than castaways like Brock McGinn, Kasperi Kapanen, and Teddy Blueger were.
The undrafted 24-year old forward is carving out a role in the lineup that makes the Penguins a better overall team.
Nylander was promoted on an emergency basis twice in the last week but just might be someone that could make the Penguins better all throughout the lineup.
After posting 50 points in 54 AHL games, the Penguins gave him the opportunity to play in Pittsburgh after a few injuries ravaged their roster.
He was immediately put on the second line with Jason Zucker and Evgeni Malkin. The fit on that line looks seamless at the moment.
Nylander seems to have immediate chemistry with Zucker and assisted on a goal in his Penguins debut. He is a former top-10 draft pick so the talent is evidently there and he’s shown early glimpses of that so far.
One of the biggest knocks on Nylander was his inability to commit to the two-way game, something you must do in a Mike Sullivan-coached system. He spent time improving upon that in the minors and has looked capable of doing that through his first three appearances in a Penguins uniform.
His presence in the top six has allowed the Penguins to move Rickard Rakell down to the third line and give him a chance to drive his own line. In the two games since that move was made, Rakell has scored. Talk about pushing the right buttons.
The Penguins have a lot of good forwards when fully healthy so if they get to that point, they’re going to have some decisions to make. At the current moment, O’Connor and Nylander have more than earned a chance to stay in Pittsburgh’s lineup.
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Tristan Jarry Continues to Struggle as Penguins Starting Goalie
Everyone wants to have faith in Tristan Jarry, but is he right for the Pittsburgh Penguins?
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ playoff odds are fairly high considering the position they’re currently in. There’s a plethora of teams within a few points of them in the standings.
It’s fair to agree you wouldn’t bet against the team that has made the playoffs for nearly two decades straight. But if Tristan Jarry doesn’t figure things out, it may not matter whether the Penguins make it or not.
Jarry’s lack of playoff success, and availability for that matter, is the most obvious concern heading towards the playoffs. His backup, Casey DeSmith, hasn’t provided much in the way of confidence this season either.
Jarry has been out on multiple occasions now with what is described as a “chronic hip injury”. That just sounds like a troubling sentence. He could be an injury waiting to happen.
It felt like Jarry’s return to the team following the original injury in the Winter Classic would be a boost to the team. Instead, he’s been sub-par since.
Since January 20th, Jarry owns a 4-2-2 record with a 3.32 goals against average and an .893 save percentage. While 10 of a possible 16 points sounds really good, he’s obviously being helped out by his teammates as evidenced by his not-so-solid numbers.
Far too often, Jarry is described as a number one goaltender. Are we really so sure?
According to the website MoneyPuck, Tristan Jarry is at exactly 0.0 goals saved above expected. That means he quite literally does not save a singular goal more than he’s expected to. That figure is tied for 35th among goaltenders who have played at least 20 games. Ironically, DeSmith ranks 25th.
Stick with the 20 games played minimum, Jarry is elite at making the “low danger” save as he ranks fourth with a .978. Transitioning to “medium danger” save percentage, Jarry ranks a pedestrian 39th at .863.
If you’re a Jarry stan, you may want to turn away at this number.
Out of 51 qualified goaltenders, Jarry ranks 49th with a .650 “high danger” save percentage. That ranks above only the Edmonton Oilers’ tandem of goaltenders in Stuart Skinner and Jack Campbell. For conversation sake, DeSmith ranks 22nd with a .737 save percentage.
The Oilers problem is pretty obvious too.
Jarry doesn’t have a great defense in front of him as he’s seen many breakaways and odd-man rushes throughout the year. But he doesn’t profile as a clutch goaltender and it’s no coincidence that he’s been painstakingly bad across his playoff career.
All of these numbers suggest that when facing easy chances, Jarry makes the necessary saves. However, when the going gets tough, Jarry doesn’t make the big saves his team needs on occasion.
Thursday’s overtime loss was a perfect indication of this.
The Islanders were dominated for 55 minutes by the Penguins before they pushed back towards the end of the third. Jarry did face two breakaways in overtime and was scored upon in the second one but his trend of allowing goals when the team needs the big save showed up again.
The Penguins need a magical 180-degree turn out of Jarry if they want any chance of anything more than a first-round exit…or even a playoff appearance at all.
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Penguins Entering Metro-Heavy Schedule
There will be increased importance to each of the last 20 games on the Pittsburgh Penguins schedule.
Games following the trade deadline always have a higher-intensity as teams with playoff hopes look to enhance their position in the standings. In most cases for the last 16 years, the Pittsburgh Penguins were safely entrenched in a playoff spot and looking to work out the kinks in their game. This season, they find themselves in a dog fight.
The reality is that the Eastern Conference is a beast this season and that the Penguins enter play on Monday in the second wild card spot despite having games in hand on the New York Islanders who are currently above them.
If you haven’t noticed, the Penguins haven’t played a ton of Metropolitan Division games when you consider how deep into the season they are. With exactly 20 games left, the Penguins will play 11 games within the Metropolitan Division including six of the next seven.
An even weirder schedule quirk has the Penguins seeing the New York Rangers on Sunday for the first time since December 20th when they beat them 3-2 at PPG Paints Arena. Following that, during the same week, the Penguins will play two games at Madison Square Garden against their playoff foes from last season.
Unless you’re just tuning into the hockey season, those three games likely could determine the Penguins’ playoff positioning assuming they make it.
The Rangers have 79 points to the Penguins’ 71. Without giving the Rangers extra points, the Penguins could creep up on the Rangers and make things interesting in the standings. Currently, Pittsburgh is penciled in to play either Carolina Hurricanes or Boston Bruins in round one if they are to continue to reside in the wild card spot.
However, if they just so happen to take all three games in regulation against the Rangers, the Penguins could be within earshot of moving out of the wild card and being a top-three team in the division and likely getting an easier matchup. Give away too many of those six points, however, and they’ll be continuing to fight just to stay in the playoffs.
11 of the Penguins’ final 20 games will be against teams that currently can’t claim to be in a playoff spot. Their next opponent, the Columbus Blue Jackets, are the worst team in the NHL with 46 points. They’ll play the Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, and Philadelphia Flyers over the last 20 games and all three of those teams represent bottom-feeder squads this season.
There is a path for the Penguins to really pick up some points as their schedule lightens up the rest of the way. Outside of Ryan Poehling, the Penguins are as healthy as they’ve been all season and don’t have the excuse of missing players that are vital to their lineup.
The current equation adds up to a real opportunity for the Pittsburgh Penguins to win a handful of games and make a push for a non-wild card playoff spot to enhance their chances of drawing a more manageable opponent in round one.
When looking at the schedule, anything less than a playoff spot would be an abject failure.
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Flavell's Five Thoughts: Penguins Post Deadline
The Pittsburgh Penguins have wrapped their trade deadline and the state of the team is in flux.
Who could’ve seen this coming?
The Pittsburgh Penguins won four straight games heading into the trade deadline to firmly entrench themselves into the “buyers” category. They enter play Friday five points into the clear in the playoff race and sit in the first wild card spot.
Wednesday night, the Penguins acquired forward Mikael Granlund and then backed that up with the acquisitions of forward Nick Bonino and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov.
Sitting currently at 31-21-9 with 71 points, the Penguins’ doom-and-gloom outlook from just a week-and-a-half ago did a complete 180 and has people believing they can easily coast towards the playoffs now.
Pittsburgh would need one heck of a run in March to catch the Rangers in the Metropolitan Division, so the Penguins look to be on a crash course with either the Boston Bruins or the Carolina Hurricanes in the playoffs. That sentence doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence but stranger things have happened.
I’ve got some thoughts on the trades and the state of the team as we head down the stretch to what could be the 17th straight playoff appearance for the Penguins.
Don’t Hate the Players, Hate the GM
Ron Hextall has made some head scratching moves as the general manager, precisely this season in everything he’s done post-signing of Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.
To have the quality of players the Penguins do signed to the team-friendly deals they currently are and still be lacking the depth of a championship contender is quite sad.
Hextall undid a lot of his mistakes and it is good on him to see that he made mistakes, admitted them, and moved on. However, it made anything he wanted to do at the deadline hard and he had to get rid of players just to be able to take on these acquisitions.
Coming into the Penguins organization are Granlund, Bonino, and Kulikov. Headed to other teams are Teddy Blueger, Brock McGinn, Kasperi Kapanen through waivers, a second and third round draft choice and a few late picks.
Without going too in-depth as the trades have been covered aplenty already, I believe Granlund can be an effective presence as long as he can skate. Kulikov doesn’t seem to be much of an upgrade over any left-handed defenseman currently on the roster and probably shouldn’t be a top-six guy but I’m sure he will play. Bonino comes back to the Penguins as an upgrade over Blueger offensively and kills penalties so that trade makes Pittsburgh better in theory.
They’re a much different product on the ice than they were just over a week ago. We’ll see if that’s for better or for worse. Ron Hextall’s job may depend on it.
Drew O’Connor Has Proven Me Wrong
I hadn’t seen the hype behind Drew O’Connor like many of the Pens fans had bought into since his debut. He didn’t seem like much of an offensive presence but, in fairness, it is hard to gain any traction when you’re not an every night player and being shuffled back and forth to the minors.
I won’t sit here and anoint O’Connor as the next random 30-goal scorer that had little buzz as a legitimate prospect but made a name for themselves in the big leagues. But I certainly now believe O’Connor is a legit NHL player.
It was rumored that the Penguins were wanting him to play with more of an edge even though he sees himself as more of a scorer. In a Mike Sullivan system, if you play in the bottom-six then you’re expected to have some snarl.
O’Connor will never lead the Penguins in fighting majors but he certainly seems to have taken the coaching staff's desire for him to add that to his game. Oh, and he can score a little too as evidenced by his pretty goal on Thursday night in Tampa.
With five goals in 27 games despite a fairly low-ice time role, the Penguins have themselves a player that shouldn’t have to wear a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton jersey ever again. Now that the Penguins have a bit of cap space to work with, they’ll be able to bring some other WBS guys up and give them a look as well.
Do Whatever it Takes to Bring Back Jason Zucker
CapFriendly currently has the Penguins at a shade under $21 million in cap space headed into next season. Surely, there are pending free agents they must sign that could eat a lot of that number.
One of those players is Jason Zucker.
Patric Hornqvist was never the best player on the Penguins but outside of the core three, you could argue he was always the most important.
Hornqvist was the sole of the hockey team and when he was out, the Penguins seemed to lack an identity. There’s just certain guys that are the heart of a team even when they aren’t the most skilled player on that team. Zucker is the closest thing they’ve had to that since Hornqvist’s departure.
Zucker makes $5.5 million currently. If he keeps up the pace he’s on, he’s likely going to command a raise. Would the Penguins be willing to pay him north of $6 million and more annually than Malkin and Letang? I don’t know but it feels like it’s a risk worth taking.
Zucker just turned 31 in January so he still is a middle-age, effective player. He may decline in skill earlier than most because of his play style but that may not matter by the time that contract ends anyway.
Injuries have certainly always been a concern with Zucker but he is a very good player when healthy and played through an injury last postseason that literally had him sitting on a raised stoll on the bench to be out there for his team. The guy is a warrior.
Find a fair dollar amount, give him a three-year deal that would expire with the other top guys and let’s see Zucker continue to play at a high-level the next few years in Pittsburgh’s top-six.
A Healthy Tristan Jarry is an Effective Tristan Jarry
I am a big proponent of the saying “your best ability is availability”. On the Penguins, there aren’t many players that embody that more than Tristan Jarry.
Jarry is an effective goaltender when he’s healthy. He’s 19-7-5 this season. The Penguins’ 12-13-4 record without him is quite pedestrian. That’s a lot of points that were left on the table from sub-par goaltending from Casey DeSmith and, to a lesser extent, Dustin Tokarski.
Jarry is tied for 10th in the NHL in save percentage at .916% behind a defense that gives up a lot of shots.
Pittsburgh seems to play better with Tristan Jarry in net. Whether it’s the trust factor or whatever it is, the Penguins overall seem to be a better team when Jarry plays and if that’s what it takes for the Penguins to get going again, so be it.
Jarry’s injury concerns are what may prevent him from receiving a long-term deal in Pittsburgh. He certainly seems to be the right goalie for the team but do the Penguins want to commit to an injury-riddled goaltender with what is described as a “chronic hip problem” as their core finishes out their careers?
If there is one storyline worth following in regards to the Penguins this offseason, it’s how they approach the future in the blue paint.
Will the Penguins Make the Playoffs?
Whether the Penguins should’ve been buyers at the deadline or not is a different topic. Some argue that they should’ve sold off as their chances of being better would be enhanced next season as opposed to trying to compete with juggernauts like the Bruins and Hurricanes.
Alas, here we are and the Penguins did a bit of both in an effort to find some cap space with the potential for some solid additions.
I think the Penguins will make the playoffs as a wild card as I don’t know how much I believe in the teams behind them more so than anything.
The Penguins are the league’s oldest team and certainly didn’t shrink that number with any of their moves. They’ve got some experience in that locker room and added another guy who’s won it all before in Bonino. That shouldn’t be taken lightly.
The group as a whole seemed tight prior to the past week’s roster shake up. The message seemed to have been sent as the Penguins haven’t lost since Kapanen was waived. That, too, shouldn’t be taken lightly.
The Penguins have three games in hand on the Islanders and are currently a point better than them. The Buffalo Sabres are a young team that might still be a step or two away from contending. The Ottawa Senators acquired rumored Penguins trade target Jakob Chychrun so they seem to be inclined to make a run. The Florida Panthers have a solid team and lurks as a threat despite being four points out of the playoffs. The Washington Capitals went into seller mode. And do we really believe in the Detroit Red Wings?
History and common sense says the Penguins should make the playoffs. If they do, they’ll be heavy underdogs with a lot to prove and tons of motivation.
Do you think Crosby, Malkin, and Letang want to go out in round one for the umpteenth straight season? Jarry wants to prove he can be effective and healthy so he can get his contract. Think that’ll give him any extra juice?
I wouldn’t place a mortgage or anything on the Penguins to win much more than a round if they can play spoiler. But are you really inclined to bet against them?
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Aging Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin Still Carrying Penguins
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are proving that age is just a number as they lead the Pittsburgh Penguins.
With the trade deadline approaching, the Pittsburgh Penguins are doing everything in their power to convince Ron Hextall to buy-in to this team, despite all the moves their Eastern Conference foes are making. They’ve backed up a four-game losing skid with a mini two-game winning streak after beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-3 on Sunday evening.
Multiple Penguins broke scoring droughts within the past few games. Marcus Pettersson scored his first of the season on Saturday while Teddy Blueger and Brian Dumoulin scored on Sunday. If the Penguins are going to beat out the myriad of bubble playoff teams in the East, they’re going to need contributions from those guys.
However, possibly the most impressive part of all of this might be the seasons that Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are having offensively at ages 35 and 36, respectively.
Both guys added two more points to their season totals in Sunday’s win. Crosby now has 71 points and Malkin has earned 62. Both guys, despite being two of the Penguins’ oldest players, have played in all 59 games for the team this season. The magnitude of that can’t be stressed enough.
Crosby has seemingly been the same player for his entire career. Sure, he isn’t putting up 120 points like he did in the beginning of his career but if his health prevails, he’ll put up 100+ points for the first time since the 2018-19’ season…at 35-years of age.
Malkin is playing his first full season post-knee surgery. All he’s done is score 23 goals and is on pace for around 90 points. Keep in mind that he is 36-years-old.
It’s no secret that the Penguins’ problems lie in their bottom-six currently. Due to this, the Penguins’ older stars can only carry them so far and it resulted in just a 10-12-4 record since Christmas.
In that same time, Malkin has 29 points to go with Crosby’s 28 points in 26 games since the holiday.
At their age, it’s tough to expect them to have the A-game on a nightly basis but it seems that 90% of the time, at least one of them looks to have that extra hop in their step and the Penguins are obviously a better team because of that.
Connor McDavid is the best player in the game and these guys won’t be challenging the Oilers star for that crown at their age. However, what they’re doing must continue to be appreciated and still has them among the league’s elite players despite the notion that the Penguins are “too old”.
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Defensemen Contribute to Lack of Penguins Goal Scoring
Defensemen on the Pittsburgh Penguins have struggled to score goals and it's impacting the entire team.
On the blueline, recent Pittsburgh Penguins teams haven’t been very big or physical and that seemed to be a point of emphasis with some of the Penguins’ additions this past offseason. Guys like Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta were brought in to provide some size in an area that has evidently been a problem for the Penguins in recent seasons.
Former Penguins John Marino and Mike Matheson were fairly skilled offensively but didn’t quite make for guys who could clear the net-front on a penalty kill or in an extended period of five-on-five defensive zone time. That explains why they were shipped out by Ron Hextall in the offseason.
In doing so, the Penguins have gotten bigger but have also sacrificed some goal scoring on the blueline. While the defensemen aren’t relied upon to be heavy goals scorers, that doesn’t mean they’re exempt from chipping in more often than the Penguins’ current crop has.
Entering play on Wednesday, the Penguins are tied for dead last in the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks in goals from their defensemen with just 17 through 56 games. A lot of warranted blame falls on the bottom six forward depth for the lack of goals the Penguins have scored but the defensemen haven’t fared much better.
Unsurprisingly, Kris Letang leads all Penguins defenseman with five goals in 38 games. P.O. Joseph has four. Petry and Rutta have chipped in for three a piece. Both Mark Friedman and Ty Smith have scored once. Marcus Pettersson, Brian Dumoulin, and Chad Ruhwedel all have yet to light the lamp.
The pecking order of this isn’t much of a surprise. Letang, Petry, and Joseph have displayed the ability to provide offense. Rutta stands out as a bit of a surprise despite scoring two in the first five games of the season. Smith certainly can provide offense but has only played nine games at the NHL-level this season. The final three are defense-first kind of guys and don’t score very often and almost never see time on the man-advantage.
As constructed, the Penguins don’t have a group of guys accustomed to scoring a plethora of goals. The most offensively gifted one, Letang, has missed 18 games so the number likely is dragged down by that.
The Penguins are 17th in the league in shots/game by defensemen with 1.43/game. That figure ranks in the bottom-half of the league so maybe if they threw a few more on per game, the number would be higher.
For context, the eight teams in front of the Penguins in ascending order are as follows: Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, Vegas Golden Knights, Tampa Bay Lightning, Edmonton Oilers, and Buffalo Sabres.
Defenders scoring doesn’t necessarily translate to more success as evidenced by the Golden Knights, Maple Leafs, Oilers, and Lightning being so low on this list as their scoring depth clearly comes from the front-end. But the other teams on the list do represent some of the lower-end teams in the league as well.
The top-five teams in the league in goals by defensemen are the Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, Colorado Avalanche, and Detroit Red Wings. All five of these teams currently hold a playoff spot or are within a game or two of holding one. The number one team, Florida, has 36 goals from defensemen which more than doubles the Penguins’ figure.
The Penguins’ defenseman won’t turn into Bobby Orr or Paul Coffey overnight but asking them to pitch in a bit more from a scoring standpoint and try to compensate for the lack of bottom-six scoring hardly seems like a far-fetched thought.
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Jeff Petry Is Important to Penguins Success in 2023
The trade deadline continues to approach and Jeff Petry should be a safe player in the Pittsburgh Penguins roster.
As part of the offseason overhaul on defense, the Pittsburgh Penguins shipped out John Marino and Mike Matheson while acquiring Ty Smith and Jeff Petry to fill those voids.
Smith has spent the better part of the season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton waiting for an opportunity at a full-time gig in Pittsburgh. That hasn’t quite happened yet. Smith did get into a few games with the parent club when injuries ran rampant on the Penguins’ blue line and wasn’t a complete disaster so he looks capable of being a future staple on the Penguins’ blue line.
The acquisition of Petry came as more of a surprise.
Petry had been linked to the Penguins quietly in previous years but nothing ever came of it until this offseason when the Penguins sent Matheson to the Canadiens for Petry and forward Ryan Poehling. The deal hasn’t been a bad one by any means for the Penguins as both Petry and Poehling have been effective when in the lineup.
The more surprising part seemed to be the fact that the Penguins were going to take on a higher salary cap hit by acquiring Petry, who is 35 years old. He’s on the books for two more seasons at $6.25 million and has a 15-team no trade clause according to CapFriendly.
While a lot of that sounds scary, Petry has by no means had a bad season.
Petry has missed some time playing in only 40 of the Penguins’ 56 games to this point. He has three goals and 19 points in that time.
At 6’3”, Petry is a big-bodied defenseman, something the Penguins desperately needed after seeing the way their smaller defensemen were bullied around the net-front last season. He currently ranks third on the team in hits with 122 behind only Jason Zucker and Josh Archibald. They found toughness and a guy who is also a gifted offensive defenseman and can run the point on the power play if needed.
In recent days, there have been conflicting reports about his availability as we approach the trade deadline next Friday, March 3rd. If Ron Hextall doesn’t want to become more of a laughing stock around the Penguins’ fan base, he’d be wise to hang on to Petry for at least the rest of this season.
Shipping out Matheson, a young, gifted defenseman, for Petry was a hefty price. The move hasn’t been an awful one but trading Petry before he plays a full season in Pittsburgh would be quite the backtrack and Hextall admitting he believes he made a mistake.
The Penguins do have a cap problem right now and sending that $6.25 million elsewhere would alleviate some of those problems. But the contract isn’t an albatross by any means.
Petry provides offensive gifts that not many players on their current defense have. He plays sound defense and has experience playing top-pairing minutes in the absence of a guy like Kris Letang. He’s quite a nice insurance policy for a guy like Letang who has dealt with a bevy of health problems throughout his career.
Surely, Smith could come up and potentially replace Petry on the blue line for the rest of the season but if Smith isn’t quite ready to move up to the NHL full-time, overexposing him could halt his development. Pittsburgh can’t afford that at this time.
Teams like the Vegas Golden Knights and Tampa Bay Lightning find a way to load the roster year-after-year despite having lots of high priced talent and cap constraints. Salary cap space can’t be an excuse for Hextall considering he got the Penguins into this mess himself. There are other ways the Penguins could open up that space.
One of those ways should not be to trade a quality defenseman like Petry mid-season, especially if the Penguins still have aspirations of making it to the postseason.
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Penguins in No Man’s Land With Trade Deadline Approach
The Pittsburgh Penguins keep stacking the cards against themselves as the trade deadline nears.
With each loss that piles on to the Pittsburgh Penguins record, it feels like rock bottom. Yet, somehow, it gets lower and lower. They play two good periods of hockey and the final period sees them squander a lead and eventually give away two points that could’ve been had.
Instead of looking for a fix, general manager Ron Hextall continues to take the “glass half-full” approach in saying that he likes his team, they look good on paper, and that the results have been perplexing.
Head coach Mike Sullivan continues to roll the same lines over the boards in critical situations. Of course, he can only play with the hand he’s dealt but continuing to give Brock McGinn, Jeff Carter, and Kasperi Kapanen the ice time that he has is borderline insanity.
McGinn has not registered a singular point in 23 games. That’s almost impossible to do in the NHL, especially when you’re playing 13 minutes a night as a third liner. Carter looks like a shell of his former self. Kapanen has at least looked energetic and played the part of a third-liner despite his own shortcomings.
The Penguins cast of fourth liners, while fine for their job description, have provided next to no offense for the Penguins.
None of this goes without mentioning the Penguins’ top-six forwards who’ve been nothing short of outstanding.
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are both on the wrong side of 30, yet the Penguins’ best players night-in-and-night-out. Hearing that sentence is a blessing and a curse. On one hand, seeing them succeed like they’re both still in their prime is awesome. But, it’s also scary that no one else outside of the top-six is picking up the slack.
Rickard Rakell has been everything the team has hoped for and more. Jake Guentzel is doing his usual thing. Jason Zucker is the closest thing the Penguins have had to Patric Hornqvist since his departure and they must find a way to keep him around. Bryan Rust has been fine but the Penguins clearly would love to see more goals scored out of him.
And of course, there’s the goaltending mess.
Tristan Jarry is pretty good when healthy, but the “healthy” only comes around a few months out of the season. Casey DeSmith has been underwhelming in Jarry’s stead and Dustin Tokarski is best served as the starter for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
All this leads to the point of what exactly are the Penguins going to do in regards to the trade deadline?
The Penguins are a combined 0-9-0 against the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders Islanders, and Carolina Hurricanes this season. Losing divisional games like that can create a big gap in the standings. The Islanders, who the Penguins will see one more time this season in early March, are one of the teams the Penguins are currently battling in the standings for the wild card spots.
Hextall has sat back and watched everything unfold this season and hasn’t made a single, solitary move to try and fix the issues. To his advantage, he has Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, and Kris Letang at a combined cap hit of $28 million per season. That averages $7 million a player for those four guys.
In this NHL economy.
And he still found a way to mangle the rest of the roster? That’s a joke.
Because of the minimal cap space, the Penguins can hardly be in play for the big fish. Adding one or two small pieces won’t fix the Penguins’ overall problem and surely is going to cost more than it’s worth to make those moves.
Conversely, if the Penguins decided to sell guys off, even if it’s contracts like Kapanen, Rust, or Brian Dumoulin, they run the risk of making their stars mad. Those guys signed on with the intention of competing for a playoff spot every year until their contract expires. They have no interest in being a part of a team that has eyes on the future.
The Penguins, specifically Hextall, are very much in no man’s land right now. They aren’t going to do anything noteworthy as they’re currently constructed and the players likely won’t be agreeable to punting on what’s left of this season and putting their focus on next season’s roster.
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Flavell's Five Thoughts: Penguins Coming Out of All-Star Break
The Pittsburgh Penguins return to action soon, and there are some changes that need to be made.
Prior to the NHL All-Star break, it seemed that the Pittsburgh Penguins might be in dire straits more so than many of us may have believed around Christmas time. They will be coming out of the break with a 24-16-9 record. Technically speaking, they’ve lost more games this season than they’ve won. However, they have salvaged at least a point in 33 of their 49 games to this point.
Not only are the Penguins trying to fend off division rivals such as the Washington Capitals and the New York Islanders but the hard charging Buffalo Sabres of the Atlantic Division are on the heels of the flightless birds of Pittsburgh sitting just two points behind them when the NHL resumes play on Monday. Even the Florida Panthers lurk just three points back of the Penguins.
Not everyone can be the Boston Bruins or Carolina Hurricanes, the league’s only two teams remaining without double-digit regulation losses. However, with the caliber of players on Pittsburgh’s roster, there isn’t much reason they can’t turn things around and secure themselves a playoff spot over the next two and a half months.
With the trade deadline approaching quickly and the schedule loaded with Metropolitan Divisional games the rest of the way, there is plenty to talk about regarding the current iteration of the Penguins. As I like to do in this space, I will share with you five of my thoughts about the current state of the team.
Bryan Rust Could Become An X-Factor
Not too long ago, I wrote a piece on why the Penguins should acquire Max Domi. I know that he profiles as more than just bottom-six depth which is where the Penguins lack the most currently. But, finding someone to plug into the top-six would allow the Penguins to switch Bryan Rust into a third line role, one that would suit him better than his current role.
Rust isn’t scoring enough right now to justify the contract he was given which is one befitting of a top-six piece. If someone like Domi was acquired, the Penguins could slot Rust into a third line role where he’d likely be the driving force of that specific line and may benefit more from being that guy.
He’d likely be the wing for either Teddy Blueger or Ryan Poehling depending on how things were playing out at the time of the trade. The Penguins were at their best when they could roll four lines. Prior to the break, they were rolling two with the fourth line starting to find some chemistry.
The third line has been an absolute black hole offensively for about a month now.
Rust hasn’t had a problem shooting the puck this season. He ranks third on the team with 126 shots. Only Sidney Crosby (137) and Jake Guentzel (129) rank above him. Their conversion rates have obviously been higher this season as they’re both on pace for 35+ goals. Rust currently has 11 and may struggle to get to 20 this season at his current rate.
Rust has had separate goalless streaks of nine, seven, and six games this season. That won’t cut it as a top-six winger playing with Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. He’s scored 20+ goals for three straight seasons now and despite never profiling as a prolific goal scorer in his minor league days, he’s been an integral piece of the top-six.
Instead of making a play for another mediocre bottom-six scorer, the Penguins could make another Rickard Rakell-like deal and acquire a more prolific piece that would allow Rust to move into a third line role.
There’s obvious cap restraints and other things that will make that tough but with Hextall’s radio silence on the trade-front, it would behoove him to parlay that into an impact deal to get the Penguins moving North in the standings instead of South.
A Completely Healthy Tristan Jarry Would Help
Casey DeSmith has been nothing short of awful this season. He’s had some shining moments and then he’ll allow six goals to a team like the Sharks right before the break when the Penguins need nothing less than a win to go in on a high note.
Don’t get me wrong, DeSmith has faced some hard luck. The defensive core in front of him had been without Kris Letang, Marcus Pettersson and Jeff Petry for a stretch of games. P.O. Joseph’s stellar play has regressed a little over the past month. Chad Ruhwedel is playing some of the worst hockey he has in his Penguins tenure. There are certainly variables.
Good goaltenders overcome things like that and take over games. That’s where Jarry comes in.
Say what you will about Jarry but he is one of the top-10 regular season goalies in the NHL when he’s healthy. You have to add the “regular season” part in there because of his playoff struggles and lack of availability until he’s able to prove otherwise.
Jarry is playing for a contract this season. Whether that comes from Pittsburgh or another NHL club in free agency remains to be seen. But right now, he’s the clear number one in Pittsburgh and that won’t change anytime soon unless the Penguins acquire a goaltender to push him over the next few weeks.
He serves the Penguins no good being injured as often as he is. While sometimes it can’t be prevented, it is becoming too common of a theme at the worst times.
For both his and the teams’ sake, hopefully he’ll be in the blue paint on Tuesday night when the Penguins host the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. And then hopefully for the vast majority of games the rest of the way down the stretch after that.
When he returned from his first injury, he made a career-high in saves the night he came back. The Penguins didn’t look good in front of him but he was the difference and beat an Ottawa team that the Penguins should beat and did so because their goaltender stole a game for them.
Pittsburgh needs Tristan Jarry to be healthy in the worst way. Truthfully, if Jarry wants any sort of long-term financial security this offseason, he’s got to get back pretty soon too.
Mike Sullivan’s Stubbornness Needs to Relent
Sullivan has a ton of respect and admiration for his players, especially the ones who have been with the team clear back to their championship runs. However, that grace period has ended. They need to be given the leeway they deserve through their play and guys like Brian Dumoulin probably don’t deserve that much at the moment.
Admittedly, Dumoulin’s play has been a bit better the past few weeks leading up to the break. He has been playing with more confidence and steadier than he had been. It’s earned him a chance to play with Kris Letang again now that he is healthy.
There was a long period of time this year where he played so poorly that most any other player would find themselves in the press box.
Far too often, Sullivan finds too much trust in some players and makes it quite obvious of those he doesn’t care for.
Evan Rodrigues would’ve been a valuable re-sign for the Penguins this season. He took one bad penalty in game six of the Rangers series last season and, despite scoring in game seven, was allowed to walk. Mark Friedman is one of the only fiery guys on the roster. Yet, he finds himself sitting more often than not as guys like Dumoulin and Ruhwedel struggle through their respective slumps.
And no one needs to be told about the love affair for Jeff Carter.
Sullivan is one of the best coaches in the NHL. The Penguins’ season has been saved by him on multiple occasions. But his stubbornness and unwillingness to give some of the younger guys more playing time in the NHL by benching the struggling veterans who make money is starting to cost the Penguins valuable points in the standings.
I don’t think a 2015-style of youth infusion is going to save this team. However, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton points leaders Alex Nylander and Valterri Puustinen have yet to see a solitary game in a Penguins uniform this season.
It’s not like the Penguins’ forward corps has been overly healthy and vastly productive this year. More of this is needed in the second half. We know what the other guys bring and the ones who aren’t bringing what they’re being paid to bring should sit in favor of guys hungry for a chance to make their mark in the NHL. Sullivan possibly can’t be this naive to the notion that many of his current lineup pieces aren’t doing their job.
What are Ron Hextall’s Options?
Things won’t be easy for Hextall as he approaches the trade deadline. Many reports have said he’s been radio silent on the trade front and believes in this group to turn it around. Just this past week, the Penguins have been linked to goaltenders like Thatcher Demko and Cam Talbot.
I’m not quite sure exactly what Hextall is going to do, if anything.
He doesn’t have a whole lot of cap space and much of the NHL right now isn’t making any moves. The Islanders made the biggest deal so far in acquiring Bo Horvat from Vancouver and getting out in front of everyone else in that market. That’s a big jolt for a team trailing the Penguins and certainly should put some worry into Penguins’ fans hearts.
Hextall’s big contracts like Rust and Dumoulin likely won’t fetch much in return. Could guys like that be sent out to make cap room? Certainly.
Hextall could opt to trade Jason Zucker on the final year of a deal paying him north of $5 million but he’s currently one of the hottest Penguins and seems like a glue guy in the locker room much in the way that Patric Hornqvist was. Ripping the heart and soul out of an already depleted team seems like a rough move to make.
Trading Teddy Blueger could entice a team as he is a solid penalty killer despite one goal in his last 66 games. A move like that would free up a little more than $2 million to work with.
According to CapFriendly, the Penguins have $2.125 million to play with at the moment as that’s what they’ve accrued throughout the season to this point. Jan Rutta and Josh Archibald are currently on the Long Term Injured Reserve, however, so they will end up eating up most of that when they return.
He’s got his hands full but it’s a mess that he did make and now has to find a way to clean up without mortgaging too much of the future to do so.
Avoiding Overtime Needs to Be a Focus
Pittsburgh has 13 divisional games left. They’ll see the Islanders three more times and the Capitals once. Three of those four matchups against their closely-following foes will take place at PPG Paints Arena. Those are games that would be huge to win.
The Penguins have played in 13 overtime contests this season. They’re 4-9 in such instances. That will make a huge difference come playoff time. They’ve squandered nine extra points now and that is something they can’t keep doing, especially if these Metropolitan Division games are close.
Finishing things off in regulation has to be a point of emphasis for the Penguins the rest of the way. With 13 divisional games remaining total, those points will be heightened in importance.
If they are to play in a bunch of extra time the rest of the way, the results must be better. There is entirely too much talent on this team to be losing this often in 3-on-3 hockey. They have to be better, plain and simple.
Make sure you bookmark Inside the Penguins for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more!
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Jeff Carter Needs Scratched from Penguins Lineup
Jeff Carter is cooked and can't keep coasting in the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup.
Respect is earned, not given. Such is true in any walk of life and that’s double when you’re as accomplished an NHL player as Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jeff Carter.
However, there comes a time in every athlete’s career where it’s time to look at themselves in the mirror and ask if they are still capable of getting the job done. In Carter’s case, I’m not quite sure he’s an 82-game full timer anymore.
His skating has diminished. His hands have turned to stone. He struggled to even receive passes from teammates anymore. It’s getting hard to watch.
Carter has seven goals and 19 points in 46 games as a third liner for the Penguins this season. Two of those goals came when shooting at a yawning cage. In Carter’s last 13 games, he’s got a goal and an assist with a minus-4 rating including being held pointless in his last 10 contests.
He’s already been removed from the role of third line center as it’s become evident that he is unequipped to do that at this juncture of his career. But if he’s going to play on the wing, he’s got to score.
Sure, he’s the best face off man on the team. The Penguins have used him to try and win opening faceoffs in overtimes before skating directly off the ice. He’s become a gimmick.
With youthful infusion and more production needed, there’s a handful of guys in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton that could play the wing. Drew O’Connor is playing some of the better hockey of his young career. A look on the third line could be in his future.
Both Alex Nylander and Valtteri Puustinen lead WBS with 34 points a piece. They’ve been big parts of the Baby Penguins’ power play with 15 combined power play goals. Carter is a part of the Pens’ second power play. There could be a different face there too.
You feel for Carter. But the Penguins have him for this season and next. He may not need to be jettisoned completely from the team but making him the 13th forward and limiting him to 50-60 games a season may not be the worst move.
His veteran presence in the playoffs would certainly be welcomed so he would be a lot fresher if the Penguins gave him a blow every once and a while.
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